At least 25 students from the city, many former students of Punjab Engineering College (PEC), have made it to various Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). Results of the Common Admission Test (CAT) conducted by the institutes were declared today after being delayed for several days because of the government stand on OBC quota.

More than 35 students from the city had got a call for group discussions and interviews early this year. At least 20 students from the city have been selected in at least one of the six IIMs. The results of the IIMs in Ahmedabad and Bangalore are still trickling in.

The first results to be declared were by the IIM, Kolkata, followed by Kozhikode, Indore and Lucknow. More than 1.9 lakh students appeared in the CAT last year across India, out of them 11,000 from Chandigarh.

Riddhi Prasad, a former student of PEC working with Accenture, Mumbai, made it to the IIMs in Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore and Kozikode.

“Since I was working I could not put in more than a few hours each day for studies. But I did a lot of practice tests, identified my weak points and worked on them. Success is a combination of hard work and luck,” she said.

Vishal Gahlaut another former student of PEC has made it to the IIMs at Indore, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Kozhikode said: “I will be joining Ahmedabad,” said Vishal, who is working with Fidelity Investments at Gurgaon. “I took a lot of mock tests and kept company with friends who were serious in their preparation. This really helps,” he said.

Narender Thakur, a final year student of PEC, has made it to Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode. “I had been preparing for MBA slowly and steadily for the past one year, studying consistently for at least an hour a day. I was focused and determined from day one.”

Thakur’s brother Rajender Thakur, also a former student of PEC and now working with a software company in Chennai, has made it to four IIMs.

Ashish Gupta, pursuing first year of MBA at the University Business School, has made it to four IIMs while Pragya Gupta and Saurabh Goyal have made it to three IIMs. Others who have cleared admission in at least one IIM are Abhishek Daga, Ankush Jain, Anuj Mittal, Gaurav Garg, Himanshu Aggarwal, Kirti Jindal, Misha Pratap, Mohit Verma, Rahul Aggarwal, Rajan Goyal, Shaifali Goyal and Vijay Kumar. Aastha Sood, a final-year electronics student in PEC, has got admission in Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

Yashbir Singh has cleared the admission test for IIMs in Kozhikode and Indore.

Said Hirdesh Madan, Region Head, Bulls Eye. "The undue delay because of the quota controversy created havoc. Many students took admission in other institutes and paid hefty sums."